<p>Congrats to Holliesue’s daughter on Juniata! I remember reading their entry in the CTCL book – sounds fabulous!</p>
<p>I’m glad more people are posting on shutterfly. It’ really fun to put faces with names and see all those wonderful kids. (And of course it’s still great to read about everyone’s progress and stories on the thread!)</p>
<p>My second daughter just turned 13 yesterday (…a happy belated to Proudmom’s daughter, who shares the same day). Now I have two teenage girls in the house (and an 11 year old boy). The birthday girl decided to take advantage of the occasion and make us all watch the first few episodes of Glee on netflix – it’s better than I expected! </p>
<p>My senior did a weighted pros/cons list of her final two. Hampshire came out with a small advantage over CU-Boulder, so I’m going to send them a plea for a little more financial aid. We had a few circumstances that were not clear on the CSS Profile and my husband finally got the documentation I’ve been after him to ask for. Keep your fingers crossed! At this point CU wouldn’t be disappointing, but I would love for her to have two really strong choices.</p>
<p>Anyone else here with little kids in addition to college age? I have a 19 yr old D, 16 yr old S and a five year old son in kindergarten! Older son skipped a year so he’s graduating in May. Just the 5 year old left at home (at least until college sophomore graduates and moves back in ). Wondered if there’s anyone else out there staring 12 long years of elementary/middle/high school in the face with me.</p>
<p>Oregonianmom, my son who’s off to college in the fall will never be 21 while he’s in college. How did your son deal with this? Is it tough senior year when all the friends can go out to clubs, etc? What did your son do?</p>
<p>I think I’m at the other end of this family spectrum age-wise. My oldest is 26, my middle 23 and my youngest is 17. The last two have birthdays next month. I kept myself together at my oldest son’s HS and College graduation by reminding myself that I had young son at home. This graduation is not going to be easy. Heck, I find myself tearing up just writing this!</p>
<p>Holliesue, Congrats on the Juniata decision! I have a friend who’s son graduated from Juniata a few years ago. He liked it a lot and also had a great study abroad experience in England.</p>
<p>momdoc - I have a 9 yo (what class is that? 2019?)
kathiep - Empty nest!!! It’s what stuff dreams are made of! Imagine how clean the house will be!</p>
<p>@dignified1: hope she has a wonderful set of visits! The weather is finally improving here in Boston, so she should be able to explore without freezing. My D finally got to Chicago after a 3 1/2 hour delay at Logan this morning, but at least the time difference was working in her favor.</p>
<p>Holliesue: so happy for you and D. Congrats on Juniata!</p>
<p>Momdoc: We have a 17yo D, 15yo S, 7yo D but you have us beat! I find that I have a lot more perspective on D2’s schooling, and even on S’s, now that I’ve seen the “process” and what counts. I’m glad for every time we let D1 be herself! It felt right and I think it was.</p>
<p>Well, I have to leave for Willamette now. Hopefully oregonianmom and I will recognize each other from shutterfly tomorrow. ;)</p>
<p>I belong to the college senior & freshman club. D1 will turn 21 in July when she’s in NYC doing an internship. At the end of summer, our girls will be 21, 18 and 8, so H and I are looking forward to 10 more years of a child in the house. Though I do envy both my sister and sister-in-law from time to time who are empty nesters, there’s nothing like snuggling up with that little one, listening to her stories and seeing that sparkle in her eye! In the end, I think they should be envying us!</p>
<p>D2 visited Duke Monday and Tuesday. Came home not seeing herself there. Sunday she heads to St. Louis on her own for a WashU visit. Last night I attended the State U Honors College reception with her, which did have food! Nice presentation and great kids at the table from all over the state. West Point is still in the mix. Hoping to be off the SS Indecision by April 16. Time will tell.</p>
<p>Amanda: I know what you mean about those gym parents. My daughter still loves gymnastics at 21. She’s going to be very sad when she has to hang up her grips next year. I won’t be surprised if she ends up coaching or judging down the road.</p>
<p>Those younger kids sound pretty sweet to this almost empty nester!</p>
<p>amandakayak-I had a dream last night that our 13 year old nephew told us that he wanted to move in with us…hmmmm…think I am having trouble with the empty nest concept??? Ha ha…</p>
<p>Anyone with a 2016 hs grad? We have him (almost 13 yr old S) in addition to D. D thought it was very funny that she’d be done applying to grad school before S has to think of applying to college. Gosh, given that this year was so tough, can’t imagine how it will be 5 years from now. Not to mention how much more we will be paying :(</p>
<p>Slithey - I hear you. We’ve planned for this, we’ve saved for this. H and I looked at our accounts the other day, working out a strategy for taking funds out. And then it hits you - you will be writing these huge ~20K cheques twice a year! Gosh!</p>
<p>D just called extremely excited - she had been invited to apply for a research grant and just found out that she did get it!! Extremely thrilled - I think this does give school #1 an unfair advantage She did say she would still visit school #2 and #3 with an open mind!</p>
<p>cgpm - omg, I was in Blanton! Small world, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>As for how many of us will have college freshmen & seniors next year, I was struck by this back when DD2 was a freshman in HS. Seems like 3 years apart is a pretty popular age gap. </p>
<p>AmandaK - my fingers & toes are tossed for you! I’m sure that would be a huge relief for you. </p>
<p>OWM - sounds like a terrific life that your older S is building for himself and his family.</p>
<p>Snoozn - a belated Happy Bday to your daughter also. We’ve known lots of kids with april birthdays but never anyone with the exact same date as either D. And I didn’t think I would like Glee either but it’s pretty good. </p>
<p>Right there with you, Kathiep. Can’t even really think about DD2 leaving without getting emotional.</p>
<p>Congratulations to those who have disembarked from the good ship Indecision! We are in full sail here, at an admitted students visit. I actually got to speak with members of the magical tribe of Ad Coms, at a parent reception today, and they are quite impressive. If a parent from their region mentioned a student name, the adcom recognized the name and knew the high school and other details, at least in the 4 or 5 I overheard - pretty amazing.</p>
Well, up until recently, my son was never much of a partier. He dated a girl his first 2 years of college who didn’t drink at all, so neither did he. This semester, he is doing study abroad, and he is “of age” there, so he’s been doing more clubbing. He likes wine and beer a lot, but he’s not into hard alcohol or binging (thank goodness). It will be interesting to see how he deals with this once he’s back at college in the fall - and isn’t “of age” anymore.</p>
<p>Seattle_Mom - I’ll see you at Willamette tomorrow!</p>
<p>OM: yes, my older D is at Syracuse (Newhouse) and is in London having the time of her life this semester!!! Where is your older one studying abroad?</p>
<p>^ I thought so! My son is a journalism major, too, at University of Maryland College Park. He’s currently studying abroad at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He is having the time of his life, too! He says the “abroad” part is a lot more fun than the “studying” part. ;)</p>
<p>Enjoy keeping up with you all. We are on a school visit and all has gone well. We are going to the other top choice in a week. I have no idea where to place my bet. </p>
<p>My SILs has already informed me I’m responsible for college advising for my nieces. So after my own 2014, I’ll have two in 2020, two in 2021. </p>
<p>Congrats to all of you “on land” while the rest of us are asea.</p>
<p>momdoc, my older daughter went to the University of Chicago when my younger daughter went to first grade! I remember thinking senior year and kindergarten year going to two different Christmas school shows that I’d be doing 12 more years of these!
Dd2 is now a freshman in the class of 2014. Class of 2014 was much harder than class of 2001!</p>
). Wondered if there’s anyone else out there staring 12 long years of elementary/middle/high school in the face with me.</p>
She did say she would still visit school